Tag: pattern

My Lard Butt Jacket!
sewing

My Lard Butt Jacket!

Sewtropolis1 Comment

Every once in a while I make something that I am super proud of…. This jacket is one of those items!

It started out a gray hoodie that was 2x too big and had Lard Butt XXXL written across the front. Let me explain…. There is a fun run here in Seattle called ‘Lard Butt’ because it’s only a mile and they serve donuts and beer. Sounds fun right? Well it was and I got caught up in all that fun and decided to buy a sweatshirt 3x too big to memorialise that fun!….. and then never wore it because … well…. Having a XXXL “Lard Butt” sweatshirt really isn’t that funny outside of that fun run.

So the sweatshirt went in my sewing room because I thought one day I would make Sweet Grace a dog sweater from it. However, after I came across my 100th bin of scraps while cleaning out my sewing room I decided I would sew some of the scraps to the hoodie and make a quilted jacket that are all the rage in the Quiltisphere these days.

I REALLY wish I would have taken pics as I went along but it’s one of those projects where I wasn’t sure what I was doing until I was doing it! I started by cutting the hoodie up the Center to open it up…. And then I removed the pocket(s) (there were now two of them since I cut it open), took off both sleeves, and finally the hood, so that I could lay everything flat.

I then started sewing cotton scraps together until I had pieces large enough to cover the different sweatshirt pieces. I then quilted the scraps down to the sweatshirt pieces and trimmed them down to size.

I used the new pieces to cut out the lining fabric which was some knit fabric I had for a few years… I think at one time I was going to make t-shirts, but decided that the fabric didn’t have enough stretch in it…. But it was perfect for this project. Finally, I added a zipper, sewed all the pieces back together and attached the lining!

I decided to leave the hood gray, as it reminds me that it was once something I was embarrassed to wear outside the house…. And now it’s not!

Another Summer Outfit
Projects · sewing

Another Summer Outfit

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I haven’t been sewing too many outfits lately… besides working on my photo greeting cards, I’ve also been working on a UFO that has sat around for way too long. I’ll reveal it soon – but for now I am keeping it under wraps for reasons I’ll reveal later.

Anywhoo – I wanted to share an outfit I made back in March/April with fabric I picked up from the Sewing Expo. This is the Emmie top, with bonus sleeve modification, from Seamwork Patterns. I love this top so much! I ‘believe’ the fabric is a voile from Art Gallery Fabrics and was purchased at the Pacific Fabric booth (if I remember correctly). It’s my color and has these tiny little olives on it – it practically called my name as I passed by!

I love the little details – such as the hook and eye; and since I didn’t have access to cording I made my own by braiding strips of fabric.

This top reminds me of a prairie style top of the 70s with the bell sleeves and open neck – I’m really happy with the way it turned out!

The pants are from an old McCall pattern that I modified to add pockets. The fabric is a linen fabric also bought at the Pacific Fabrics booth – primarily because it matched the top fabric. Since this is the 3rd or 4th time I’ve used this pattern the pants went together fairly fast. The modifications include the pockets and elastic waist, front and seat adjustments.

Stay Safe my Friends!

Projects · sewing

Quarantine and Me: Week 1

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I hope everyone is surviving the quarantine … I know I am loving the excuse to stay in and sew! Though, I did walk to the post office to drop off a letter and found these reminders to vote along the way. Love that there are people in the world who do this.

Back to sewing: I’m trying something new – instead of sewing the next shiny thing that catches my attention, I’m trying to plan my wardrobe!

I started out on Pinterest and pinned outfits that I thought would be nice to have for the summer. I pinned a ton of maxi skirts, t-shirts, and loose fitting pants. I then went through my patterns and pulled ones that matched (or were close enough) to the items I pinned.

All this was done prior to the Sewing Expo a couple of weeks ago, so I had a good idea of the types of fabric I was looking for which was really nice going in with a plan! I’ve been using Trello to keep all my outfits (patterns/fabrics) organized as I go along.

First item up:

This pattern is the Clarke from Seamworks, and the fabric is from JoAnns. I lengthened the top a couple of inches and cut it on the bias to get more drape. It’s still a little shorter than I’d like, and looks this side of a maternity top – but I don’t completely hate it. I may make another one before the summer is out.

In the meantime, stay safe my friends!

Adventures · sewing

Starting with the last thing I made…

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I tend to go in and out of this blogging thing.  For years I used to keep a journal, and even with that there were times I was more consistent than others.  Now that I’ve challenged myself to sew my clothes for 2018, I thought I would blog my makes as a way to remind myself of what I did and any modifications etc. End of June seems like a good time to start doing that!  HA!!

So, this top isn’t the last thing I made… but it’s the thing I’ve been the most happy with and that’s saying a lot since I’ve been really happy with my makes lately.  (finally!)

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I think this makes me so happy is because it reminds me of my Memorial Day weekend in  Victoria, B.C. with my friend Jennifer.  We had to much fun!

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While in Victoria we did our own walking tour of the downtown area, stopping in to see the Empress Hotel, Totum poles and even walking along the waters edge – before heading out for a whale watching tour.

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Whale watching was amazing!  We saw 3 humpback whales, two adults and one younger.  They bobbed along and once in a while we would see a tail come up out of the water – which was very exciting – but not as exciting as seeing them breach!  (photo taken using my iPhone7+)

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The next day we walked around Buchart Gardens (amazingly beautiful) and visted the China town district.

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And afterwards did a little shopping at Fabric Land where I purchased this beautiful aqua and black  polyester crepe fabric.

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Of course I had no idea what I would make with it, but it was just too pretty to pass up.  I purchased  two meters of it thinking it would be enough to make a top of some sort.

After I got back I decided to make Simplicity 8138,  mainly because I already had the pattern in my stash, and I really wanted to sew something I could wear during the warmer weather we were having at the time.

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I combined view B and view C.  I liked the ties, but not the slit on the sides of view B.  And I liked the flare of view C.  I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I didn’t have any modifications other than my standard lengthening.  I’ve worn it a couple of times in the past few weeks and each time it reminds me of that weekend in Victoria.  Good times,  Good times.

Till next time!

N